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Inside the competition for capital at some of the world’s biggest banks

Katelynn C Hipolito — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 16:08:43 +0000

Inside the competition for capital at some of the world’s biggest banks Katelynn C Hipolito Wed, 04/08/2026 - 12:08

As the U.S. economy becomes more consolidated, the strategic decisions of senior leaders at leading companies carry ever-greater weight. A lot is riding on how these companies are run, yet their day-to-day decision-making remains, in most cases, obscure.

Barbara Su. Photo by Jeffrey Porovich/Costello College of Business.

But the banking industry is an exception. As Barbara Su, assistant professor of accounting at Costello College of Business at 91��, notes, “Because the banking industry is heavily regulated, it allows us to have access to subsidiary banks’ financial information. We can observe how much money parent companies take from each subsidiary, as well as the internal capital allocation between subsidiaries by headquarters.”

Su’s forthcoming paper in Management Science finds that in multi-bank holding companies (MBHCs), especially those with multiple subsidiary banks or geographically dispersed operations, it’s essential to bridge the information gap between HQ and local subsidiaries. That is why corporate leaders strongly rely on internal accounting information, as a complement to financial performance, to help them make intramural investment decisions.

Su says that although recent rounds of deregulation and interstate banking consolidation have reduced MBHCs’ economic profile, studying their behavior is relevant “because they provide a clean empirical setting. With multiple legally distinct bank subsidiaries, we can directly observe how the parent allocates capital across units.”

“We often hear that bank holding companies should act as a ‘source of strength’ for subsidiaries. There is some truth to the ‘source of strength’ idea, but our paper also observes that holding companies don’t just allocate funds to save subsidiaries from failing. They’re also allocating funds for the better-performing ones, when the accounting reporting quality is good, to help them thrive.”

—Barbara Su, assistant professor of accounting at Costello College of Business

The paper was co-authored by Scott Liao of University of Toronto and Allison Nicoletti of University of Pennsylvania.

The researchers zeroed in on the subsidiary banks’ loan loss provision—an accounting adjustment reflecting anticipated loan defaults—as an especially meaningful indicator.

Their dataset included financial statement information from 3,031 bank subsidiaries affiliated with 799 bank holding companies, for the period 1996 to 2019.

Su’s hypothesis was that “the accuracy of the loan loss provision coming from the subsidiaries will, or should, guide the internal capital allocation at the holding company level.” In other words, HQ would be wise to interpret valid accounting information as a general quality index, helping them identify worthy targets for investment.

The evidence confirmed Su’s suspicions. The average accuracy of subsidiaries’ loan loss provisions was positively associated with HQ’s ability to pick winners, i.e., to invest in subsidiaries that would go on to achieve relatively high ROA or return on assets.

A follow-on study showed that this association was strongest for two subsets of holding companies: those more dependent on lending for their revenue, as well as those where HQ was most distant (either geographically or economically) from the local branches. Banks with troubled subsidiaries saw the weakest association between accounting information accuracy and wise internal investments. This amounts to further supporting evidence for the utility of loan loss provision as an in-house investment index for dispersed organizations, assuming the investment thesis has to do with picking winners rather than subsidizing struggling subsidiaries.

For Su, this research complicates commonly held beliefs about bank consolidation producing slow-moving behemoths getting by on sheer market power. “We often hear that bank holding companies should act as a ‘source of strength’ for subsidiaries,” she says. “There is some truth to the ‘source of strength’ idea, but our paper also observes that holding companies don’t just allocate funds to save subsidiaries from failing. They’re also allocating funds for the better-performing ones, when the accounting reporting quality is good, to help them thrive.”

Su also surmises that the decision-making method covered in her paper—HQ referencing internal accounting information as a gauge of quality—could apply outside banking. For example, it could come into play when evaluating subsidiary managers’ performance prior to a turnover decision.

Nonetheless, Su recommends that leaders maintain a balanced informational environment. Internal accounting information should be used to augment, not replace, standard performance metrics such as ROA. “I guess we could roughly think about it in a two-by-two matrix,” she says. “The ideal scenario would be high ROA, with high information quality. You could also have high ROA and low information quality—that means you’re cooking your numbers.”

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Women in Business at Mason hosts inaugural spring conference

Katelynn C Hipolito — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 15:59:04 +0000

Women in Business at Mason hosts inaugural spring conference Katelynn C Hipolito Tue, 04/07/2026 - 11:59

With more than 300 members and growing, the Women in Business at Mason student organization at the Costello College of Business, empowers women who are majoring, minoring, or interested in the world of business. Through networking and personal and professional development events, they aim to expand upon members’ skillsets as well as their networks inside and outside of 91��.

Women in Business at Mason. Photo provided by Women in Business at Mason.

During the spring 2026 semester, the members put their heads together and pooled their resources to host their first-ever Women in Business Spring Conference. Featuring 34 speakers from across industry and academia, the conference successfully positioned the group as leaders in elevating women’s voices, fostering meaningful connections, and inspiring the next generation of business leaders.

"The goal was to make this a real, recurring opportunity for women to connect with each other and with professionals who have a lot to offer, and I’m so happy to say our team achieved that and beyond.”

—Akanksha Padheriya, president of Women in Business at Mason

The spring conference kicked off with a keynote speaker—Lisa Leander, founder and CEO of Where Imagination Builds Excellence, a global community that began as Women in Business Education championing women in higher education leadership, and has since expanded its reach to business education leaders ready to reimagine what’s possible. Through stories and a hands-on networking activity, she addressed how attendees can build real connections, as well as grow, nurture, and draw strength from the people already around them.

Following the keynote, attendees broke into sessions focused on the professional development skills they wanted to strengthen, such as interviewing skills and case solving. Then they had the opportunity to sit in panel speaker sessions spanning a wide range of business fields, from technology to international business.

“We had so many people from different fields come in and it’s truly amazing,” said Katherine Guevara, speaker coordinator for the conference. “When I was sitting in my moderating sessions asking them questions, I was taking in every single bit of information and just learning about their field, how they got there. If they were George Mason alumni, how their experience at George Mason helped them grow to the person they are today.”

“Everyone had a smile on their face because they were happy to be there and learn from these panelists and amazing women,” said Faria Alam, director of operations for the conference.

Many of the speakers found the conference to be just as rewarding. “I was incredibly proud to see these young women take the initiative to design and deliver such a meaningful experience for their community by bringing people together to connect, celebrate, and learn from one another,” said Suehaila Nabulsi, BA ‘00, senior project manager at IBM. “I was truly inspired by their thoughtfulness and curiosity. Through both the women in consulting panel and individual conversations I had with many, I encouraged these extraordinary women to create and follow their own paths while resisting the urge to measure their journeys against others.”

Another George Mason alum, as well as President’s Circle donor, Phyllis C. Pajardo, MEd '93, retired superintendent of City of Fairfax Schools, was impressed and proud to see the students organize such a successful event. “Not only did the conference display the varied strengths and professionalism of the university students, the conference showcased the amazing talent, leadership journey, and the remarkable fortitude of successful women throughout the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area,” she said. “It was a pleasure to serve as a panelist; moreover, it was an even greater joy to see our current and future women business leaders in action.”

The afternoon concluded with networking, where attendees could connect with one another and also with the speakers to ask any follow-up questions. In addition to the speaker sessions and networking, several companies had tables where students could stop by to learn about the opportunities they had for them.

“Planning this conference was a very challenging task to take on, as we started with basically just an idea and had to figure out a lot as we went, since nothing like this had existed before at George Mason,” said Akanksha Padheriya, president of the Women in Business at Mason. “More than anything, I wanted to set something up that future members could actually use and build on. The goal was to make this a real, recurring opportunity for women to connect with each other and with professionals who have a lot to offer, and I’m so happy to say our team achieved that and beyond.”

Women in Business at Mason is excited to build on the success of the inaugural spring conference—including the professional connections forged—to create additional high‑value events in the future. The organization not only prepares female students to succeed in business but also serves as a home for cultivating friendship, support, and a strong sense of belonging at the Costello College of Business at 91��.

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This student is tasting start-up success with a meal delivery service for seniors

sholla4 — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 17:33:08 +0000

This student is tasting start-up success with a meal delivery service for seniors sholla4 Mon, 03/23/2026 - 13:33

Starting a business is a delicate task. Even if you get the measurements just right, without a dash of innovation, a sprinkle of luck, and a heaping spoonful of courage, it’s likely to go straight from the oven to the bin.

Zachary Suh prepares food in the College of Public Health's Nutrition Kitchen. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

Zachary Suh, however, is mastering the recipe.

Suh, a marketing major in the Costello College of Business, member of the Honors College, and a University Scholar at 91��, founded HomePlate, formerly Elderly Eats, in his sophomore year. It’s a meal service for seniors that provides medically thoughtful and culturally relevant meals made fresh and delivered right to their doorstep.

The idea first took root during COVID-19 lockdowns, when Suh’s grandmother moved in with the family as her Alzheimer’s reached late-stage. “My mom, who is a George Mason professor, became her full-time caregiver,” he said. "Caregiving takes a huge physical and emotional toll. I wanted to help her in any way I could.”

Leaning into his love for cooking, Suh took over making all the meals for his family: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He discovered that his grandmother was most interested in Korean food. “Even with her cognitive decline, you could tell she enjoyed those meals much more,” he said.

This discovery led him to another: a major gap in senior food delivery. “At one point, we looked into meal service for seniors, but we couldn’t find anything that did culturally relevant meals,” he said.

Suh is familiar with start-ups: his older brother, Jeremy Suh, founded an AI company while in college. “He’s a big inspiration for me, very much my mentor,” Suh said. “We talked about this idea for a food delivery service, about how I could bring this onto a larger scale.”

And from those conversations, Suh was encouraged to apply for the 2024 Patriot Pitch competition, hosted by Costello College of Business. HomePlate won first place in the General Entrepreneurship Track and was selected as a Mason’s Choice Award Prize winner, earning Suh $7,000 to start turning his idea into reality.

“From the very outset, what impressed me most about Zach was his unwavering commitment to helping caregivers and seniors by providing them with nutritious, culturally relevant meals that could be consumed at home,” said Jerry Pierce, MBA ’92, a retired KPMG partner and professor of accounting at Costello. “His passion for helping others is always on full display and was a big reason the audience selected him for the Mason’s Choice Award.”

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

Previously, HomePlate provided meal plans with an in-house demonstration of meal prep. Now, they’re transitioning to a fresh meal delivery service. Suh works with a registered dietician to craft meals that meet the variety of dietary and health needs of senior populations, such as diabetic restrictions, sodium control, low cholesterol, and general wellness. During the pilot program in March, HomePlate focused on Korean meals with hopes to expand to other cuisines in late 2026.

For Suh, now a junior at George Mason, this shift lets him get back to doing what he loves: cooking. He is making all the meals from scratch in partnership with Kitchen of Purpose in Arlington. “You’ll see me at every stage,” he said. “In the grocery store, in the kitchen, delivering the meals, and then taking the trash out after.”

Being both a student and a business owner is certainly a balancing act. Suh said that it wouldn't be possible without the phenomenal support from George Mason. Costello’s Office of Career Services and Jeremy Plotnick, director of minor programs for Costello, have been key supporters. Plotnick mentored Suh and helped him register his work on the business as an internship, allowing him to prepare for the relaunch while earning academic credit toward his degree. Working in the MIX incubator connected him to student and alumni entrepreneurs. Professors have offered advice. Even while studying abroad at Mason Korea, he was able to network and pitch his business through the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, as well as attend a one-week accelerator program in Australia.

“I don’t think you get this level of care and mentorship at other universities,” Suh said. “Being a George Mason student gives you access to this unparalleled network of professionals who have so much knowledge."

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Online ad fraud is a feature, not a bug

Katelynn C Hipolito — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 17:26:46 +0000

Online ad fraud is a feature, not a bug Katelynn C Hipolito Tue, 03/17/2026 - 13:26

Technological advancements and the dynamics of the platform economy make rooting out fraud more complicated than it may seem.

With print media circulation and broadcast television viewership in free fall, a lot is riding on the online advertising space being able to take up the slack. The good news is, digital ad spend is booming: The global total for 2025 is expected to surpass $678 billion, at an annual growth rate of nearly eight percent.

The bad news? A good chunk of that money is chasing a mirage.

Online ad fraud—where ad publishers falsely inflate engagement metrics (impressions, clicks, etc.) to boost revenues—is a growing problem that eats upwards of 20 percent of global ad spend.

(Left to Right) Abhishek Ray and Min Chen. Photo by Hannah Patterson/Costello College of Business.

Min Chen and Abhishek Ray, both professors in the information systems and operations management area at Costello College of Business at 91��, are researching how online ad networks, such as Google Ads, can improve upon existing anti-fraud methods. Their recently published paper in Management Science explores deep-rooted dynamics of the online ad ecosystem that make eliminating fraud even more complicated than it may seem at first glance. The paper was co-authored by Subodha Kumar of Temple University.

The researchers used a game-theoretic model to replicate the interconnected decision-making of the three players involved: advertisers, publishers, and the networks that serve as go-between.

“The way the ecosystem works is that the platforms in the middle, the ad networks, shares the benefit from the transaction,” Chen explains. “People have been arguing whether the network is incentivized to put their best efforts behind deterring fraud, since the fraudulent traffic benefits the networks too. So we tried to create a model to capture this.”

“If the advertisers rely solely on the reports from the ad networks, they may be at risk. They should use third-party tools to audit the performance better.”

—Min Chen, information systems and operations management professor at the Costello College of Business at 91��

In addition, the model incorporates the two main fraud deterrents that networks routinely use. One is technological—platforms can adopt tougher standards for fraud detection, widening the scope of suspicious activity that gets flagged. The other is economic—lowering payments to all publishers so as to disincentivize large-scale fraud.

Surprisingly, the researchers find that the online ad economy works best when the two approaches seem to be working at cross-purposes. A tightening in fraud detection technology, paired with high payments for publishers, may sometimes produce the best outcomes for advertisers, publishers, and networks, as the market evolves.

The reason is rooted in the imperfect nature of fraud detection. To be sure, detection systems are improving all the time, especially with the advent of AI. But fraudsters do their best to blend in and adapt, using technological tools that often outpace those of their pursuers. “You cannot catch all the fraud, and if you try, you are going to mis-detect a lot of non-fraud,” Chen says.

Tougher fraud detection, then, will always mean more false positives, no matter how good the technology gets. To counter this inherent unfairness that penalizes good and bad actors alike, the ad network’s payment to publishers need to go up. Otherwise, publishers may take their business elsewhere—especially those most valuable to the system, i.e. those that are trustworthy— thereby decreasing the advertisers’ valuation on ad traffic.

“These ad networks are kind of a unique system where you can be monetarily rewarded for being honest, or punished for being dishonest,” Ray says. “What we discover for this system is there can be a way in which we can give carrots to people, not just sticks.”

On a similar note, the researchers find that an attempt to purge “bad apple” advertisers from the system can backfire due to false positives. In fact, fraud can sharply increase if networks, believing they have solved the problem, relax their fraud detection standards and raise incentives for the remaining advertisers. “Since the publishers who produce the fraudulent traffic are fewer now, the ad network may no longer need to maintain a strict detection policy. This can encourage the remaining ones to commit much more fraud,” Chen explains.

To Ray and Chen, online ad fraud is, in at least one sense, no different from older forms of malfeasance that are found in all free societies. “We need to have some kind of mechanism for managing the level of fraud, because the fraud detection method is never going to be perfect, whether it’s financial fraud, accounting fraud, etc.,” Chen says.

But as an example of the contemporary platform economy, the online advertising ecosystem is also distinctive, in that its de facto regulatory authority has skin in the game. The ad networks’ mixed incentives—as both beneficiaries and inhibitors of fraud—can undermine integrity and trust within an already-compromised system.

“If the advertisers rely solely on the reports from the ad networks, they may be at risk,” Chen says. “They should use third-party tools to audit the performance better.”

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Fiscal Patriots take first place in national AGA Datathon

Katelynn C Hipolito — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 17:01:20 +0000

Fiscal Patriots take first place in national AGA Datathon Katelynn C Hipolito Mon, 03/09/2026 - 13:01

This year’s AGA Datathon—a nationwide competition challenging college students to apply their data science skills to solve real-world government accountability problems—drew talent from many of the nation’s top business colleges. The Costello College of Business at 91�� was well represented by the team known as the Fiscal Patriots, who rose above the competition to capture first place.

Fiscal Patriots receive the first-place prize check at Datathon. Courtesy of Fiscal Patriots.

The Fiscal Patriots formed quickly through existing academic connections. “I was introduced to this competition through Professor Mike Wetklow [instructor in accounting] when I took his class in advanced accounting analytics, Accounting 665, last year,” said Khaled Alkurd, an accounting analytics and forensic accounting student. “When I learned about it again this year, I knew I wanted to build a team and compete.”

Mariam Debas, an accounting and management information systems (MIS) student, had also expressed interest, so Professor Wetklow connected the two. Already familiar from a previous project, they expanded their team by inviting Andy Yaro, a cyber security engineering student, and Nikita Chandrasing, an MIS and business analytics student.

To round out the team, Chandrasing reached out to Pranavi Doodala, a business analytics student, who had been a finalist in George Mason’s capstone competition a few weeks prior. The five students quickly established a strong dynamic and a well-rounded foundation for the work ahead.

From left, Andy Yaro, Mariam Debas, Nikita Chandrasing, Pranavi Doodala, and Khaled Alkurd. Courtesy of Fiscal Patriots

During the month leading up to the first phase of the competition, the Fiscal Patriots focused on refining their responses to various prompts they could expect at the Datathon. Wetklow provided the team with initial guidance, helping them decide on which direction to take. Later, Clement Chen, adjunct professor in management, reviewed their work and provided crucial feedback to strengthen the team’s submission.

Presented with three options to choose from, the Fiscal Patriots selected the use case of visualizing government spending data in an interactive, innovative format that would make complex financial information more accessible to the public. The result was AuditsMadeSimple, a website that serves as a launchpad for understanding federal spending and audit data. Broken into four distinct features—exploratory visualizations, a 50+ term glossary of auditing terms, a dataset guide, and case studies—the platform allows users without a technical background to interpret, contextualize, and better understand government accountability data.

“We’re really hoping to showcase the accessibility of the features we’ve carefully curated on this website and how they effectively make federal spending and audit data understandable to the average citizen,” said Doodala.

“This achievement was a year in the making with George Mason's first advanced accounting analytics class a year ago,” said Wetklow. “From the time I first met Khaled, his skills were apparent. What’s equally impressive was the full team—each with a unique superpower that demonstrated the Costello-91�� edge.”

—Mike Wetklow, accounting instructor at the Costello College of Business at 91��

In the opening round of the AGA Datathon, the Fiscal Patriots made their presentation in front of the panel of judges. During the 20-minute virtual session, they walked through their website before receiving feedback on content, delivery, and other insights to keep in mind for the competition’s final round.

Polished and poised, the Fiscal Patriots delivered their final presentation on February 18 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. Winning the top prize validated their preparation and commitment, but the Fiscal Patriots had so many other takeaways from the competition. “I got involved in this challenge because I just wanted to apply my skills,” said Debas. “Coming from an MIS and accounting background, I’ve built a strong foundation across both disciplines. What really excited me about this competition was the opportunity to focus on real-world government financial challenges.”

Chandrasing found that the competition helped her experiment with future career pathways. “Because one of my career goals is to become a product manager, I think creating the documentation for what the requirements for that would be really aligned with that,” she said.

“This achievement was a year in the making with George Mason's first advanced accounting analytics class a year ago,” said Wetklow. “From the time I first met Khaled, his skills were apparent. What’s equally impressive was the full team—each with a unique superpower that demonstrated the Costello-91�� edge.”

Together, the Fiscal Patriots proved that when diverse skill sets unite around a shared mission, the results speak for themselves—and they speak loudly enough to earn the top spot on a national stage.

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Why choosing stuff to share is an ordeal

Katelynn C Hipolito — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 19:25:19 +0000

Why choosing stuff to share is an ordeal Katelynn C Hipolito Tue, 02/10/2026 - 14:25

Whether ordering a pizza to split with friends or planning a family excursion, better communication can help reduce the anxiety that surrounds joint-consumption situations.

Sharaya Jones. Photo by Jeffrey Porovich/Costello of College of Business.

We’ve all been there—shopping not just for ourselves, but also for someone else. Maybe you know them well and know exactly what they want, but what if you aren’t sure? What if it's a group of people? What do you get? Something popular like pizza could always be good. Maybe that spicy nacho dip you love, but would they like it? Do they even like spicy things? It’s anxiety-inducing, and Sharaya Jones, assistant professor of marketing at the Costello College of Business at 91��, decided to ask why.

Her recently published paper in Journal of Marketing Research is the culmination of five years of research targeting an understudied area of consumer psychology: joint consumption. Jones started the paper as a PhD student looking into decision-making for groups; her co-author Margaret Campbell, marketing professor at University of California Riverside, was her dissertation advisor.

“Marketing and consumer decisions often focus on individual consumers, but quite often we don't make decisions for just ourselves, we also make them for ourselves and others," says Jones. “We should have more research that looks at social contexts and marketers should be aware of when these different contexts arise, because they can make a significant impact.”

Her initial inspiration, however, came from her own life. “I'm an extrovert, and despite how often I enjoy hanging out with others, I would find those [group] decisions anxiety-inducing,” she says.

The paper’s seven experiments randomly assigned participants—numbering over 2,000 in total—to make a consumption choice either for themselves, for another person or for sharing. They also filled out psychological surveys on their emotions regarding the purchase.

As predicted by the researchers, participants making purchases for sharing experienced more anxiety, which was linked to a sense of responsibility and a lack of confidence in their ability to please both parties. “It’s not that it makes the decision more difficult,” Jones points out. “You’re still choosing between the same three options. But what changes is the emotional nature of the decision.” The anxiety was heightened when purchasers didn’t know the preferences of their co-consumer or knew only that their co-consumers’ preferences differed from their own.

“Marketing and consumer decisions often focus on individual consumers, but quite often we don't make decisions for just ourselves, we also make them for ourselves and others. We should have more research that looks at social contexts and marketers should be aware of when these different contexts arise, because they can make a significant impact.”

— Sharaya Jones, assistant professor of marketing at the Costello College of Business at 91��

This anxiety affected not only the consumer’s state of mind but also their choices. When making shared choices, they selected safer bets, such as wines that were presented as “the most popular” or snack assortments offering something for everyone.

Jones’s insights can help marketers better understand the decision-making that goes into, for example, planning a Super Bowl or Oscars watch party. “Marketers would definitely want to have variety packs and highlight what the popular choice is, knowing that consumers are going to be making these decisions for groups, not just themselves,” says Jones.

Offering advice for consumers, she also emphasizes that uncertainty about other people’s preferences is the main source of anxiety in joint-consumption situations. While it might feel demanding or impolite to state a strong preference, the person choosing will likely be relieved that you spoke up.

“If someone is telling you that they don’t have a preference, then you’re still in this ambiguous stage of, ‘what do I choose?’ with heightened emotion, heightened anxiety,” Jones explains.

Even better, she advises, would be to present a range of preferences, thus making it easier for the buyer to land on a mutually satisfying option. Otherwise, items selected for joint consumption will skew toward the predictable (top sellers, variety packs, etc.).

Similarly, purchasers can relieve their own anxiety by simply “asking people what they want.”

However, Jones can envision a future where the emotional burden of shopping for two will be lessened by AI. “If you don’t really know the other person’s preferences, a lot of people will turn to AI to ask for advice. Asking AI for help could make people feel more confident and alleviate the sense of responsibility,” she says.

Jones plans to continue researching joint purchases, using this paper as a starting point to delve deeper into various contexts and situations.

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It takes three types of thinking to be smart

Katelynn C Hipolito — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 19:07:24 +0000

It takes three types of thinking to be smart Katelynn C Hipolito Tue, 02/10/2026 - 14:07

Balancing and combining different kinds of intelligence may be even more important than how much you know, or how you think.

Do you know what it means to be smart? It’s a more complicated question than it may seem. There are several ways to think about intelligence—as the well-known “book-vs.-street smart” binary illustrates. By most people’s definition, a truly smart person would be someone who not only thinks well but is also able to translate thought into concrete steps toward positive and practical goals. Balancing and combining different kinds of intelligence may be even more important than how much you know, or how you think.

Matthew A. Cronin. Photo by Hannah Patterson/Costello College of Business.

In a recently published technical note, Matthew A. Cronin, professor of management at Costello College of Business at 91��, and his co-author Lillien M. Ellis of the University of Virginia, deconstruct intelligence into three modalities, which they label the Scientist, the Artist and the Judge (or “SAJ,” pronounced “sage”).

As Cronin says, the Scientist is about “logic and evidence…how we know stuff.” The Artist stands for imagination, the ability to conceive possibilities outside what we are given. The Judge is responsible for weighing the morality, appropriateness, etc. of an action or direction.

Cronin contends that we all have a Scientist, Artist and Judge in our minds, but they are often out of balance. “Most people have one of the three that they like the most, and they have that guy command everybody else. And that’s when you have problems,” he says.

As an example, Cronin’s technical note cites Judge-heavy cybersecurity protocols—they valued security but did not account for how memory worked—that forced users to create passwords that were impossible to remember. People wrote them down near their computers, defeating the whole purpose of security. Adding the Scientist and Artist into the mix resulted in innovation, e.g. long passphrases that more easily stick in the mind without needing to be noted down.

“AI can tell you whatever you want to know. But that doesn’t guarantee it’s correct—that’s the Scientist. It doesn’t tell you what you should do—that’s the Judge. And it will predict only from the most likely outcomes—definitely not the Artist.”

— Matthew A. Cronin, professor of management at Costello College of Business at 91��

According to the SAJ framework, the Artist-Scientist pairing produces discoveries about the world, by relating novel information or situations to what is already known. Collaboration between Artist and Judge is required to formulate a vision, or an imagined realization of desires or ideals deemed worth pursuing. The Scientist and Judge can work together to build skill, or the productive application of knowledge toward a chosen objective.

“You cycle through these roles,” Cronin says. “We can start with what we want, which is the Judge, and how things work, which is the Scientist—but that’s likely only to maximize what we’re already doing. So we have to find a vision that might be better, but we’re almost certainly not going to be able to get that to work without some discovery.”

Building upon Cronin’s 2018 book (co-authored by Jeffrey Loewenstein) The Craft of Creativity, the SAJ framework formalizes how creativity (the Artist) works alongside other cognitive tools to help us think, work, and live better. “People think of creativity as this magical ability. No, it’s a skill that can be developed. If you can think about a subject, you can think creatively about it,” Cronin says.

By extension, there’s hope for anyone striving to achieve intellectual balance by strengthening their Scientist, Artist, or Judge—whichever might be a bit undernourished. “Step one is just to make people aware,” Cronin says. “They think either thinking is one undifferentiated blob, or the three are totally remote and separated from one another.”

The SAJ framework can also be an active tool for structuring decision-making in a balanced way. “If I have an idea for the way things could be, I know that I need to also know how they actually work…And when you encounter unbalanced thinking, like a bureaucrat who lacks the imagination (i.e. Artist) to conceive that there may be other ways to deal with a situation, you can remind that person how everything we now take for granted was once thought impossible.”

Cronin has been teaching the SAJ framework in his management courses for more than five years, and he feels it will only grow more impactful as AI challenges organizations to define the value-add that human minds can bring to a problem set.

“AI can tell you whatever you want to know,” he says. “But that doesn’t guarantee it’s correct—that’s the Scientist. It doesn’t tell you what you should do—that’s the Judge. And it will predict only from the most likely outcomes—definitely not the Artist.”

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Student consulting group brings expertise to business development in Fairfax City

sholla4 — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 20:46:41 +0000

Student consulting group brings expertise to business development in Fairfax City sholla4 Fri, 02/06/2026 - 15:46

Experiential learning is one of the ways George Mason prepares its students for life beyond the classroom. It’s a core part of our mission. For Costello College of Business sophomore and Honors College student Iman Chaudhry, it’s also an inspiration that helped shape Mason Consulting Group’s (MCG) new venture: pro bono consulting support for local small businesses in Fairfax City.

Mason Consulting Group presents their recommendations to Make My Day CPA. Photo provided.

MCG began as a means to educate the George Mason community about consulting as a career path. When Chaudhry, the current president of MCG, began an internship with Fairfax City Economic Development (FCED), she came with a vision for the group to expand their impact and reach through free consulting services for local businesses in Fairfax City.

“It was mutually beneficial: we help strengthen our local community and support small businesses, as well as providing experiential learning opportunities aligned with Costello’s strategic priorities,” she said. “We still want to educate the community about business consulting, while providing real, tangible, experiential learning opportunities to students where they’re working with a real-life client.”

As an intern, Chaudhry served as a bridge between FCED and Costello: “A person on the inside,” she said, who helped make the initiative successful.

With support and guidance from FCED and Costello College of Business, Chaudhry and the group developed the program structure, reviewed applications, selected the inaugural clients, and negotiated a contract with FCED for funding.

MCG completed their first round of consulting in Fall 2025, serving two Fairfax City clients: BE2 Pilates and Make My Day CPA. Throughout the semester, the team held regular meetings with clients to provide updates and pitch ideas; at the end, they presented their final recommendations and deliverables to both businesses and FCED.

“Knowing how to market my business has been my Achilles’ heel,” said Julia Hughes, founder and owner of BE2 Pilates. “I thought I’d toss my hat into the ring when I saw the call for applications for the program.”

The team provided Hughes with a comprehensive social media marketing plan and a range of business development recommendations, such as adding QR codes to business cards and developing a pricing structure for students.

Mason Consulting Group visits BE2 Pilates with founder and owner Julia Hughes (third from left) and MCG prsident Iman Chaudhry (fourth from left). Photo provided.

“Everything they gave me in terms of deliverables are things that could be started on the small scale and grown over time,” Hughes said. “And their recommendations helped me think outside of the box for business development, thinking more broadly about with whom I can partner, with whom I can connect.”

MCG’s services are free to those businesses that are accepted through the FCED program. Hughes noted that the quality of the business consulting provided was above and beyond her expectations.

“The level of professionalism, the product presented, and the deliverables MCG provided were all of a caliber that far surpassed their years of experience,” said Hughes. “I was quite impressed by them at every step of the way.”

“The Mason Consulting Group has done an outstanding job diving deep into the consulting world. The students are getting hands-on experience with real clients to understand the dynamics of consulting and the complexities of the business world,” said MCG’s faculty advisor Katherine Rosenbusch, associate professor of management in Costello.

After the success of this first cohort, FCED has agreed to extend funding for another semester. MCG is selecting their next round of clients for the Spring 2026 semester.

“We’re a young club, but I think Costello and George Mason’s vision of high access and high outcomes makes us stand out,” Chaudhry said. “I want to help put George Mason on the map as a hub for high-caliber student talent delivering real-world impact."

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Katherine Rosenbusch

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